NASCAR Heat 2002
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| NASCAR Heat 2002 | |
|---|---|
 PS2 cover art featuring the cars of Ricky Rudd, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton, Rusty Wallace, and Ward Burton | |
| Developers | Monster Games Crawfish Interactive (GBA) |
| Publisher | Infogrames |
| Platforms | Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Xbox[1] |
| Release | PlayStation 2 Xbox Game Boy Advance |
| Genre | Racing |
| Modes | Single-player, multiplayer |
NASCAR Heat 2002, sometimes mislabeled as NASCAR Heat,[6][7][8][9][10] is a NASCAR video game produced by Infogrames for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Game Boy Advance consoles. It is the successor to the 2000 game NASCAR Heat, and the predecessor to NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona. NASCAR Heat 2002 can have up to 24 (PS2) or 43 (Xbox, including fictional cars) racers on one of 19 official NASCAR tracks, and the game was released in June 2001 for PlayStation 2. A port for the Xbox was released in November 2001. Developed by Crawfish Interactive, a distinct version for Game Boy Advance was released in May 2002.
The game was supported by GameSpy Arcade for online multiplayer.[11]
Reception
| Aggregator | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| GBA | PS2 | Xbox | |
| Metacritic | 52/100[12] | 81/100[13] | 78/100[14] |
| Publication | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| GBA | PS2 | Xbox | |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | N/A | 7.5/10[15] | 6.67/10[16][a] |
| EP Daily | N/A | 8.5/10[17] | N/A |
| Game Informer | 7.5/10[6] | 8.5/10[7] | 8.25/10[8] |
| GameRevolution | N/A | B−[18] | N/A |
| GameSpot | 4/10[19] | 7.8/10[20] | 7.6/10[21] |
| GameZone | 5.5/10[22] | N/A | 8.5/10[23] |
| IGN | 5/10[24] | 8.1/10[25] | 7.8/10[26] |
| Next Generation | N/A | 3/5[9] | 4/5[27] |
| Nintendo Power | 1.5/5[28] | N/A | N/A |
| Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | N/A | 4/5[10] | N/A |
| Official Xbox Magazine (US) | N/A | N/A | 8.2/10[29] |
| Maxim | N/A | 4/5[30] | N/A |
The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions received "favorable" reviews, while the Game Boy Advance version received "mixed" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[12][13][14] Jim Preston of NextGen's September 2001 issue said that the PS2 version "lacks the complete details to be the best, but it's still an accurate and fun way to drive fast and to the left."[9] Three issues later, however, he said that the Xbox version "won't convert non-NASCAR nuts, but casual and hardcore stock fans would be wise to pick it up."[27]
Jake The Snake of GamePro's September 2001 issue called the PlayStation 2 version "the stock-car game to beat."[31][b] Four issues later, Four-Eyed Dragon said of the Xbox version, "If you want a worthy adversary to EA's NASCAR series, Heat is it."[32][c]